Meet our Chair

The Chair of the Global Partnership for Education is independent of any constituency and represents the Board of Directors and the Partnership as a whole.

Carol Bellamy presently serves as the Chair of the Global Partnership for Education Board of Directors. Prior to this, Ms. Bellamy served as President and CEO of World Learning, a private, non-profit organization promoting international understanding through education and development in over 70 countries. Bellamy previously served 10 years as Executive Director of UNICEF, the children’s agency of the United Nations. She was also the first former volunteer to become Director of Peace Corps.

Ms. Bellamy has worked in the private sector at Bear, Stearns & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. She spent 13 years as an elected public official, including five years in the New York State Senate. In 1978, she became the first woman to be elected to citywide office in New York City when she was elected President of the NYC Council, a position she held until 1985. Bellamy was named one of Forbes magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 2004. In 2009, Bellamy was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the Government of France. Bellamy also chairs the Board of Governors of the International Baccalaureate.

Chair Roles and responsibilities

• Provides political and intellectual leadership for the Global Partnership for Education and represents the Partnership and the Board of Directors in political and public fora;
• Leads the Global Partnership for Education resource mobilization efforts;
• Facilitates decision making – including on strategy and policies – and follow-through to assure their implementation;
• Convenes and chairs the Partnership, Board of Directors and other Global Partnership for Education meetings;
• Guides operations and processes of the Global Partnership for Education meetings with support from the Secretariat.